Is it worth it?
We do not recommend CanStockPhoto, mainly because of the daily downloads that do not carry over to the next day and the poor image quality. Moreover, the support team does not answer questions even after a month of waiting. Finally, even with the extended license, the maximum legal liability is $10,000, while other sites offer up to $1 million.
Pros
- The cheapest stock images cost only $0.14/image.
- Over 120 subscription combinations so that everyone can find a good plan.
Cons
- All subscriptions come with daily downloads that expire within 24 hours. This means if you miss a day, you lose your downloads.
- Only $10,000 legal coverage with Enhanced licenses.
- Incorrect information throughout the entire website.
| Website | canstockphoto.com |
| Images | 72 million |
| Pricing | $0.14–$7.50/image |
| Extended license | $21.50–$146.25 |
| Free trial | No |
| Licenses | Royalty-free |
Who Is CanStockPhoto Best For?
After conducting deep research by analyzing over 30 stock photo agencies, we do not recommend CanStockPhoto to anyone. Its Enhanced licenses are very limited, and the image quality is below average.
If you value your budget, time, and resources, we recommend the alternatives listed below.
Read more: Best stock photo sites
Best CanStockPhoto Alternatives
| CanStockPhoto | Shutterstock | Adobe Stock | iStock | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | No one | Best overall | Best for graphic designers | Best for commercial use |
| Price | $0.14–$7.50/image | $0.22-$14.50/image | $0.26-$9.99/image | $0.22-$9.90/image |
| Extended License | $21.50-$146.25 | $67.96–$99.50 | $79.99 | $144–$216 |
| Free trial | / | Yes (10 images) | Yes (10, 25, or 40 images) | Yes (10 images) |
| Licenses | Royalty-free | Royalty-free | Royalty-free | Royalty-free |
| Photos | 72 million | 400 million | 280 million | 148 million |
CanStockPhoto Pricing
Canstockphoto sells stock photos with subscriptions (cheaper) and with credits (more flexible). Royalty-free images cost $0.14–$7.50, while the price of enhanced licenses is not disclosed.
Subscriptions
Subscriptions are the cheaper option but bind you to weekly, monthly, semi-annual, or annual plans. The subscription pricing varies based on the:
- Number of daily downloads (10, 25, 50, 100, 250);
- Image sizes included (small, medium, and large JPGs or all JPG sizes & EPS vectors);
- Subscription length (1 week, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year);
- Number of users (1, 3, unlimited).
Canstockphoto’s subscriptions are highly customizable, allowing you to change virtually every aspect. In fact, there are 120 different combinations (Hint: we did the math). Here we provided the price of the 20 most common subscription plans among our readers.
| Daily downloads | 1 week | 1 month | 6 months | 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $0.55/image | $0.33/image | $0.27/image | $0.21/image |
| 25 | $0.48/image | $0.27/image | $0.23/image | $0.17/image |
| 50 | $0.46/image | $0.27/image | $0.22/image | $0.17/image |
| 100 | $0.41/image | $0.24/image | $0.19/image | $0.15/image |
| 250 | $0.39/image | $0.22/image | $0.18/image | $0.14/image |
Credits
You can use credits to buy images and the content you cannot get with subscriptions, such as footage and Enhanced licenses.
How much do credits cost?
| Number of credits | Price | Price/credit |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | $9.00 | $0.75/credit |
| 35 | $25.00 | $0.71/credit |
| 80 | $50.00 | $0.63/credit |
| 170 | $100.00 | $0.59/credit |
| 360 | $200.00 | $0.56/credit |
| 1,000 | $500 | $0.50/credit |
| 2,050 | $1,000 | $0.49/credit |
| 4,200 | $2,000 | $0.48/credit |
| 11,500 | $5,000 | $0.43/credit |
| 25,000 | $10,000 | $0.40/credit |
What can you buy with credits?
Once you purchase the credit pack, you can use credits to buy images, footage, and Enhanced licenses.
Images
- Small JPEG – 2 credits ($0.80+)
- Medium JPEG – 3 credits ($1.20+)
- Large JPEG – 4 credits ($1.60+)
- X-Large JPEG – 5 credits ($2.00+)
- EPS vector – 10 credits ($4.00+)
- XX-Large JPEG – 10 credit ($4.00+)
Footage
- Low resolution – 15 credits ($6.00+)
- SD – 50 credits ($20.00+)
- HD 720 – 70 credits ($28.00+)
- HD 1080 – 80 credits ($32.00+)
- 4K – 150 credits ($60.00+)
Enhanced licenses
- Multi-Seat (unlimited users) – 35 credits ($14.00+)
- Physical and electronic items for resale – 75 credits ($28.00+)
- Reproduction/unlimited print run – 75 credits ($28.00+)
CanStockPhoto Licenses
CanStockPhoto doesn’t provide any use-friendly comparison of its licenses, so we did it for you.
The standard CanStockPhoto license is a royalty-free license, which means that after you buy the image you can use it forever without having to pay any further fees. However, a standard royalty-free license limits you to 500,000 copies and impressions and usually comes with a smaller legal coverage ($10,000). While all excellent stock photo agencies provide a much higher legal coverage even for the basic license (usually $25,000) and even higher for the Exnteded (up to $1 million), CanStockPhoto provides only $10,000 even with the Enhanced license.
To make matters even worse, when you purchase an Extended license at other stock photo sites, you get everything inluded in one license. However, at CanStockPhoto you must stack Enhanced licenses and buying them in addition to the standard image license. This means, that you upgrade the license and not subsctitute it, making CanStockPhoto very expensive in this regard.
| Standard | Multi-Seat | Physical and electronic items for resale | Reproduction/unlimited print run | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.14-$7.50/image | $14-$26.25/image | $28-$56.25/image | $28-$56.25/image |
| Available with | Subscriptions, credits | Credits | Credits | Credits |
| Best for | Blogs, social media, small advertising projects | Teams | Resale in apps, templates | Packaging, merchandise |
| Reprints, online distribution | 500,000 | 500,000 | 500,000 | Unlimited |
| Resale | Not permitted | Not permitted | 10,000 | Not permitted |
| Number of users | 1 | Unlimited | 1 | 1 |
| Attribution | No | No | No | No |
| Indemnity | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 |
Related: What does royalty-free mean?
Free Downloads
If you sign up for CanStockPhoto’s email list, you will receive one free download every week. By signing up, you create a free account, which binds you to the Membership Agreement. In addition to the free downloads, you will receive discounts and email updates that bother some customers.
Customer Satisfaction
Customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases because they do not receive refunds, have technical problems and discounts do not work. On the other hand, some customers are very satisfied with their purchases from CanStockPhoto, mainly because of the low prices.
Because we know that a good stock photo agency cherishes its contributing photographers, we looked into the satisfaction of those as well. Some photographers complain about CanStockPhoto stealing their images. However, they have not provided any proof of that. Others claim that sharing photos on CanStockPhoto is very difficult and often doesn’t work as expected.
The Verdict
In our experience, CanStockPhoto customer service isn’t responsive to your requests and questions. We also don’t like that the subscription downloads expire every day and that you get very little legal liability. On a positive note, CanStockPhoto is the cheapest stock photo website with a wide range of subscriptions.
As a result, CanStockPhoto has a 2.9 Photutorial rating, mainly affected by the relatively small and low-quality image library, the lack of a free trial, limited licensing, and non-responsive support team. We recommend alternatives that were rated 5.0 by Photutorial, such as Shutterstock and Adobe Stock.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CanStockPhoto legit?
Yes, CanStockPhoto is a legit stock photo agency, meaning it is not a scam. However, it is one of the worst services for stock images and footage we have reviewed. Be advised when purchasing at CanStockPhoto, because some customers complain about not receiving a refund.
Can I use CanStockPhoto’s images for commercial purposes?
Yes, you can use CanStockPhoto’s image for commercial purposes. The standard royalty-free license allows you up to 500,000 copies of the image. If you to use the image for resale, you need to get the “Physical and electronic items for resale” Enhanced license.
Methodology
Photutorial reviewed CanStockPhoto based on 14 data points in the categories of image quality and variety, pricing, licensing, image number, customer support, and additional features. Photutorial rated CanStockPhoto based on the weighting assigned to each category.
- Image quality & variety: 20%
- Pricing: 20%
- Licensing: 20%
- Image number: 15%
- Additional features: 15%
- Customer support: 10%
Within each category, we also considered several characteristics, the number of images per most popular searches, technical quality, and added value. We also looked at the variety of pricing plans, minimum, median, and maximum image prices, and free trial terms. Finally, we evaluated CanStockPhoto’s customer support, licensing, and additional features that would enhance customers’ workflow.